Most of the time, diagnosis of hookworm infection is done by examining the feces of the dog with the suspected infection, and can often be done in-house at your veterinarian’s office. The skin will be reddened, itchy, and have small raised bumps. In dogs who have been infected by larval penetration of the skin, occasionally a skin irritation develops, especially on the dog’s feet and between their toes. In otherwise healthy mature dogs, the main clinical sign is diarrhea. Signs to look for in puppies include failure to thrive and gain weight, poor quality coat, pale gums, lethargy, and dark, tarry diarrhea. The most common hookworm is a particularly voracious bloodsucker and can actually bleed a puppy to death. The infection is most dangerous in puppies that became infected by nursing. The signs of a hookworm infection are different depending on the age of the affected dog. Dormant larvae may also become active when the adult worms are killed off by treatment, thus making it extremely difficult to get rid of a hookworm infection. When puppies nurse, the larvae are able to pass from the mother to the puppies and thereby infect the puppies. When a previously infected dog becomes pregnant, those dormant hookworm larvae will become active again and accumulate in the mammary glands. In dogs that are older than about three months of age, the larvae will still travel to the lungs, but from there, they will embed themselves in other tissues of the body and become dormant. Larvae that penetrate the skin of puppies will enter the bloodstream and migrate to the lungs where they are coughed up and swallowed by the dog. If ingested, the larvae will then mature into adults and attach to the lining of the small intestine. The dog can then become infected with the larvae by inadvertently eating something from the environment (such as by grooming a part of their body that has come in contact with the contaminated ground), sniffing at feces from an infected dog, eating another animal that is infected, or by larval penetration of the skin. The larvae can then remain in the environment for weeks or even a few months in warmer temperatures. In warm, moist soil, this can occur within two to three days, but may take as long as nine days in less favorable conditions. Once outside the dog’s body, the eggs hatch and mature into infective larvae. About two to three weeks after attaching to the intestine, they begin producing and shedding eggs, which are passed into the environment through the dog’s stool. Hookworm life cycleĪdult hookworms are up to about a half inch in length and live 4-24 months firmly attached to the lining of the small intestine. caninum is the most common and has a fairly wide distribution across the south central and southeastern regions of the United States. There are three species of hookworms that can infect dogs in the United States: Ancylostoma braziliense, Uncinaria stenocephala, and Ancylostoma caninum. They do occasionally move from one site to another within the intestine, leaving behind small bleeding ulcers at their previous sites of attachment. Immature and adult worms attach to the lining of the small intestine, digest the tissue, inject anticoagulants (enzymes that prevent blood clotting), and suck blood. Hookworms get their name because of the hook-like mouth parts that they use to attach themselves to the lining of the small intestine of dogs.
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